Tank-locking device, system for managing liquid supply and method using the same

ABSTRACT

A system for managing liquid supply suitable for a process equipment with a liquid tank is disclosed. The system includes a host, a data-reading tool, a system controller and a tank-locking device. The host stores a built-in liquid database. The data-reading tool used for reading data related to the liquid tank is electrically connected to the host. The host receives the data related to the liquid tank from the data-reading tool, and the received data mapped with the liquid database. The system controller drives the tank-locking device according to the signal from the host to whether or not allow replacement of the liquid tank.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan applicationserial no. 96123208, filed on Jun. 27, 2007. The entirety of theabove-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a system for managing processequipments and a method using the same, and more particularly, to asystem for managing liquid supply and a method using the same.

2. Description of Related Art

In a semiconductor process, various liquids are often used for carryingout the process. Taking a lithography process as an example, in thephotoresist coating process, the chip surface is spin-coated with aliquid photoresist where the selected photoresist type depends ondifferent process conditions.

When the photoresist in a process machine is used out, a registering andmapping procedure is usually conducted manually, and then, a workerdecides to replace the used out photoresist with a fresh photoresist. Inmore detail, once a photoresist in a machine is used out, a signal wouldbe sent out from the machine to remind the worker to supplement thefresh photoresist, so as to avoid interruption of a production line. Inresponse thereto, the worker would go to remove a fresh photoresist tankof the same type to replace the exhausted photoresist tank. Further, theworker would manually delete the data related to the exhaustedphotoresist tank in a computer terminal, enter the data related to thefresh photoresist tank and conduct mapping and verification. Finally,the worker would find the exhausted photoresist tank in thephotoresist-placing cabinet of the machine and replace the exhaustedphotoresist tank with a fresh photoresist tank and then restart themachine.

During the above-mentioned process, the data related to the freshphotoresist tank would be mapped against the established database in thecomputer so as to judge whether the removed fresh photoresist tank isthe correct one, which of course is without a mandatory mechanism ofcontrol and administration. Since the photoresists are of a variety oftypes, and some of the photoresists have similar and very closenomenclatures, so that it is very likely to cause a wrong withdrawal dueto human negligence. Once a worker does not perform the mappingprocedure or ignores the mapping error message to replace a photoresisttank with a correct one, then, a fatal mistake of replacement wouldoccur, which further affects the yield and cost of the entire product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system for managingliquid supply for managing the replacement depleted liquid tank with acorrect fresh liquid tank.

The present invention is also directed to a method for managing theliquid supply, which promotes precise mapping in order to avoid areplacement with a incorrect liquid tank.

The present invention is also directed to a tank-locking device forlocking a liquid tank having an eye ring to help forbidding a workerfrom arbitrarily replacing a liquid tank.

The present invention provides a system for managing liquid supplysuitable to be disposed in a process equipment using a liquid tank. Thesystem includes a host, a liquid tank, a system controller and atank-locking device. The host has a built-in liquid database. Thedata-reading tool is electrically connected to the host and for readingthe data related to the liquid tank. The system controller iselectrically connected to the host. The tank-locking device is connectedto the system controller and is disposed on the liquid tank, wherein thetank-locking device includes a slideable locking detent. The hostreceives the data related to the liquid tank from the data-reading tooland conducts a mapping between the data related to the liquid tank andthe liquid database. The system controller drives the tank-lockingdevice according to the signal from the host. When the tank-lockingdevice is in a locking state, the locking detent would fasten the eyering of the liquid tank; and when the tank-locking device is in releasestate, the locking detent would release the eye ring of the liquid tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned lockingdetent includes a cavity portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the tank-locking deviceis in a locking state, the cavity portion would lock the eye ring of theliquid tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a liquid level sensorelectrically connected to the host is further included for sensing theliquid level in the liquid tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data-reading tool is, forexample, a barcode scanner.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the system controllerincludes a liquid supplier.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid supplier is, forexample, an air pressure supplier.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the air pressure supplier hasa driving pressure ranging between 1 kg/cm² and 7 kg/cm².

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking detent has amaximum outcome pressure of 6.78 kg/cm².

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking detent has amoving speed ranging between 50 mm/sec and 500 mm/sec.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the process equipment is, forexample, a photoresist coating and developing machine.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid tank is, forexample, a photoresist tank.

The present invention also provides a method for managing the liquidsupply suitable for a process equipment using a liquid tank, wherein atank-locking device in a locking state is disposed on the liquid tank.First, when a liquid tank needs to be replaced, a fresh liquid tank istaken out for reading the data about the fresh liquid tank. Next, amapping procedure between the data related to the fresh liquid tank andthe data related to the liquid tank to be replaced is conducted toensure they are in accordance with each other. When the data related tothe fresh liquid tank and the data about the liquid tank are inaccordance with each other, the tank-locking device is driven andswitched to release state. Then, the liquid tank is replaced with acorrect fresh liquid tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the data related to theliquid tank is read by using, for example, a barcode scanner to read thebarcode on the fresh liquid tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the data related to thefresh liquid tank is not in accordance with the data related to theliquid tank, the tank-locking device is kept in the locking state.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the process equipment is, forexample, a photoresist coating and developing machine.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid tank is, forexample, a photoresist tank.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the fresh liquid tank is, forexample, a fresh photoresist tank.

The present invention also provides a tank-locking device suitable for aliquid tank having an eye ring. The device includes a body, a fasteningportion, a vessel body, a piston, a driving rod and a locking detent.The fastening portion is connected to a side of the body for fasteningthe device itself onto the liquid tank. The vessel body is embedded inthe body, while the liquid inlet of the vessel body is protruded fromthe body. The piston is disposed in the vessel body. The driving rod isslideably disposed in the vessel body, and an end of the driving rod isconnected to the piston. The locking detent is connected to another endof the driving rod and has a cavity portion. When the piston is pushedby a liquid pressure from the liquid inlet, the piston would drive thedriving rod to make the locking detent move from a release position to alocking position along a moving axis so as to make the cavity portionlock the eye ring.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the tank-locking deviceincludes an elastic component disposed between the piston and the innerwalls of the vessel body for exerting an elastic force to the pistonagainst the bottom of the vessel body so as to drive the driving rod tomake the locking detent move from a release position to a lockingposition.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned elasticcomponent is, for example, a spring coil pulled on the driving rod.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the tank-locking devicefurther includes two guiding rails respectively disposed at both sidesof the driving rod, so that the locking detent is able to be leaned onthe guiding rails and assure the locking detent to substantially slidealong the moving axis.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the body includes anaccommodating groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking detent isslideably disposed in the accommodating groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the tank-locking devicefurther includes a liquid-supply device connected to the liquid inlet.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid-supply device is,for example, an air pressure supplier.

According to the above description, the system for managing the liquid,supply according to the present invention, is able to avoid the liquidtank from being arbitrarily replaced since a liquid-supply device isadopted to lock the liquid tank in use. Further, the system controllerwould control the tank-locking device for controlling the switchingstate according to the result after the host conducts a data-mapping.Thus, the system for managing the liquid supply is able to effectivelyconduct mapping and managing the liquid supply and avoid a worker fromreplacing with an incorrect liquid tank by mistake.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the tank-lockingdevice is in a locking state during use. Only when the data related tothe fresh liquid tank is in accordance with the data related to thepreviously-used liquid tank, the tank-locking device is allowed to beswitched to unlocking state for replacing with a fresh liquid tank. Inthis way, the method for managing the liquid supply according to thepresent invention can promote the timely replacement of the liquid tankwith a correct liquid tank.

Furthermore, since the liquid-supply device of the present inventionemploys a slideable locking detent, which can move from a releaseposition to a locking position and lock the eye ring of the liquid tankby driving the liquid-supply system. Thus, replacement of the liquidtank with an incorrect liquid tank by mistake may be effectivelyavoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a 3D-diagram of a liquid-supply device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are sectional diagrams of the liquid-supply device inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system for managingliquid supply according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for managing liquid according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers areused in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or likeparts.

FIG. 1 is a 3D-diagram of a liquid-supply device according to anembodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are sectionaldiagrams of the liquid-supply device in FIG. 1 showing the actionsthereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2A, a liquid-supply device 100 is suitable fora liquid tank having an eye ring (not shown). The liquid-supply device100 includes a body 102, a fastening portion 104, a vessel body 110, apiston 120, a driving rod 130, guiding rails 140 and a locking detent150. The body 102 is, for example, a hollow case and an accommodatinggroove 102 a is disposed in the body 102. The fastening portion 104 isconnected to a side of the body. The vessel body 110 is embedded, forexample, in the body 102. The piston 120 is disposed, for example, inthe vessel body 110. The driving rod 130 is slideably disposed in thevessel body 110 and connected to the piston 120. The locking detent 150is slideably disposed, for example, in the accommodating groove 102 aand connected to the driving rod 130. In addition, the guiding rails 140are respectively disposed, for example, at both sides of the driving rod130 so as to make the locking detent 150 lean on the guiding rails 140.

As shown by FIG. 1, the fastening portion 104 includes, for example, ahollow ring structure. The connection between the fastening portion 104and the body 102 is, for example, a fixed connection, so that thering-shaped fastening portion 104 is able to surround the portionproximate to tank opening of the liquid tank to fasten the liquid-supplydevice 100 onto the liquid tank. In other embodiments however, thefastening portion 104 can have a structure in any other appropriategeometric form, while the connection between the fastening portion 104and the body 102 can be a slideable connection as well as long asfastening portion 104 enables the liquid-supply device 100 to be stablyleaned on the liquid tank, which the present invention does not limitto.

The vessel body 110 is, for example, a cylinder with cylindrical shapeand a chamber for the piston 120 to be accommodated therein andreciprocate along an axis 170. The bottom of the vessel body 110includes, for example, an opening 110 a passing though the bottom. Theopening 110 a serves as a connection hole for connecting the piston 120and other components, for example, the locking detent 150.

In addition, for example, a liquid inlet 112 is disposed over the vesselbody 110, and the liquid inlet 112 can communicate with the chamber inthe vessel body 110. The liquid inlet 112 is, for example, protrudedfrom the body 102. In an embodiment, when the liquid inlet 112 isconnected to the liquid-supply device (not shown), the liquid providedby the liquid-supply device would flow from the liquid inlet 112 to thevessel body 110. The piston 120 can move in the vessel body 110 byexerting a liquid pressure onto the piston 120.

The driving rod 130 aligns, for example, the moving axis 170 and isdisposed between the piston 120 and the locking detent 150. The drivingrod 130 includes an end 130 a and another end 130 b which arerespectively connected to the piston 120 and the locking detent 150. Inthe present embodiment, the end 130 a of the driving rod 130 isconnected to the lower portion of the piston 120, while the end 130 b ofthe driving rod 130 passes through the opening 110 a at the bottom ofthe vessel body 110 to connect the upper portion of the locking detent150.

The locking detent 150 has a cavity portion 150 a which takes, forexample, the moving axis 170 as the center axis thereof and is disposedat the bottom of the locking detent 150. The shape of the cavity portion150 a, for example, corresponds to the eye ring of the liquid tank. Theupper portion of the eye ring of the liquid tank can be enclosed by thecavity portion 150 a so that the locking detent 150 just snaps theconvex eye ring of the liquid tank.

In addition, the guiding rails 140 are, for example, symmetricallydisposed at both sides of the moving axis 170, wherein the guiding rails140 respectively go through the locking detent 150 and are located atboth sides of the cavity portion 150 a so as to enable the lockingdetent 150 to slide along the guiding rails 140. In this way, thelocking detent 150 is assured by the guiding rails 140 to slide back andfourth substantially along the moving axis 170.

In order to enable the locking detent 150 to reciprocate along theguiding rails 140, the tank-locking device 100 of the present inventioncan employ an elastic component 160 disposed, for example, between thepiston 120 and the inner walls of the vessel body 110. By means of therestoring force of the elastic component 160 exerted onto the piston120, the driving rod 130 is able to bring the locking detent 150, alongthe guiding rails 140, to move upwards relative to the vessel body 110.In the present embodiment, the elastic component 160 includes, forexample, a spring coil pulled on the driving rod 130.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show sectional diagrams of the liquid-supply device 100.As shown by FIG. 2A, when no liquid pressure from the liquid inlet 112is exerted onto the piston 120, the tank-locking device 100 would bemaintained in the unlocking state; meanwhile, the piston 120 would notdrive the driving rod to push the locking detent 150 and the lockingdetent 150 is maintained in the unlocking state.

Referring to FIG. 2B, when the liquid-supply device (not shown) outputsliquid to the vessel body 110 via the liquid inlet 112, the piston 120would be exerted by a liquid pressure 180 from the liquid inlet 112 andmoves towards the elastic component 160 under the liquid pressure 180,which compresses the elastic component 160 so that the piston 120 wouldmove towards the bottom of the vessel body 110. At this time, thedriving rod 130 also moves along with the piston 120 and drives thelocking detent 150 to move from a release position P1 to a lockingposition P2 along the guiding rails 140 and the moving axis 170, whichfurther enables the cavity portion 150 a to lock the eye ring of theliquid tank, and meantime, the tank-locking device 100 is in a lockingstate.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the liquid-supply device stops to outputliquid, the piston 120 would be free from the liquid pressure 180 fromthe liquid inlet 112 and the elastic component 160 exerts an elasticforce towards the bottom of the vessel body 110 onto the lower portionof the piston 120. Under the restoring action of the elastic component160 onto the piton 120, the driving rod 130 would be pulled by the piton120 to drive the locking detent 150 for moving to the release positionP1 along the guiding rails 140.

In other words, the piston 120 in the tank-locking device 100reciprocates under the liquid pressure 180 exerted thereto and therestoring action of the elastic component 160. The piton 120 would pullthe driving rod 130 to drive the locking detent 150 for moving so as toswitch the tank-locking device 100 to different state.

In the following, the application of the tank-locking device 100 in asystem for managing the liquid supply is depicted. FIG. 3 is a diagramshowing the configuration of a system for managing the liquid supplyaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 3, 1, 2Aand 2B, all the same components are marked by the same notations andthey are omitted to describe.

Referring to FIG. 3, a system 300 for managing the liquid supply issuitable to be disposed in a process equipment using a liquid tank 360.In the embodiment, the system 300 for managing the liquid supply of thepresent invention is used in, for example, a photoresist coating anddeveloping machine. The liquid tank 360 is, for example, a photoresisttank and a fresh liquid tank 370 is, for example but not limited to, afresh photoresist tank for replacing the liquid tank 360. Certainly,except for the semiconductor process, the system 300 for managing theliquid supply may be used in other appropriate fields as well, which thepresent invention does not limit to.

The system 300 for managing the liquid supply includes a host 310, adata-reading tool 320, a system controller 330, a tank-locking device100 and a liquid level sensor 350. The data-reading tool 320 iselectrically connected to the host 310, the system controller 330 iselectrically connected to the host 310, the tank-locking device 100 iselectrically connected to the system controller 330 and the liquid levelsensor 350 is electrically connected to the host 310.

The host 310 is, for example, disposed in the photoresist coating anddeveloping machine for receiving the signals sent from the liquid levelsensor 350 and the data-reading tool 320, and then, the host 310 furthersends a signal to control the system controller 330 for operation. Thehost 310 includes, for example, a built-in liquid database for mappingthe data related to the liquid tank 360 and the data related to thefresh liquid tank 370.

The data-reading tool 320 is employed for reading the data on the freshliquid tank 370. In the present embodiment, the data-reading tool 320includes a barcode scanner capable of conducting data-transferring inwireless mode, which is, for example, a personal digital assistant(PDA), wherein the data-reading tool 320 is used to scan the label onthe fresh liquid tank 370 and obtain the data related to the freshliquid tank 370 through the barcode on the label 374. Next, thedata-reading tool 320 sends the data related to the fresh liquid tank370 to the host 310 so as to further map the received data with theliquid database in the host 310 to verify whether the data related tothe fresh liquid tank 370 is in accordance with the data about theliquid tank 360.

The system controller 330 receives the signal sent from the host 310 todrive the tank-locking device 100. The system controller 330 furtherincludes a liquid-supply device 340. The liquid-supply device 340 isconnected between the system controller 330 and the tank-locking device100. In the present embodiment, the liquid-supply device 340 is, forexample, an air pressure supplier which provides a driving pressureranging between 1 kg/cm² and 7 kg/cm². The system controller 330 cancontrol the operation of the liquid-supply device 340 according to thesignal from the host 310 so as to further switch the tank-locking device100 to different states. When the liquid-supply device 340is turned on,a liquid pressure would be applied to the tank-locking device 100; whenthe liquid-supply device 340 is turned off, no liquid pressure would beapplied to the tank-locking device 100.

The tank-locking device 100 is disposed on the liquid tank 360 having aneye ring. The tank-locking device 100 includes a fastening portion 104and a slideable locking detent 150. The fastening portion 104, forexample, surrounds a portion proximate to the tank opening of the liquidtank 360 to fasten the tank-locking device 100 onto the liquid tank 360.The tank-locking device 100 drives the locking detent 150 for moving bymeans of the liquid-supply device 340, so that the tank-locking device100 is switched to different states for locking and unlocking the liquidtank 360.

When the liquid-supply device 340 applies a liquid pressure to push thelocking detent 150, the cavity portion (not shown) of the locking detent150 would lock the eye ring 362 of the liquid tank 360 and at this timethe tank-locking device 100 is in a locking state; when theliquid-supply device 340 stops to apply the liquid pressure by pushingthe locking detent 150, the locking detent 150 would release the eyering 362 of the liquid tank 360 and at this time, the tank-lockingdevice 100 is in an unlocking state. In the present embodiment, themaximum outcome pressure of the locking detent 150 is 6.78 kg/cm² andthe moving speed of the locking detent 150 ranges between 50 mm/sec and500 mm/sec.

It should be noted that during the operation of the photoresist coatingand developing machine, the tank-locking device 100 is, for example, ina locking state. Thus, the locking detent 150 can lock the eye ring 362of the liquid tank 360, so that a worker is unable to easily replace theliquid tank 360.

The liquid level sensor 350 is employed for sensing the liquid usagesituation in the liquid tank 360 and sends the sensed liquid level tothe host 310, so that the host 310 can decide whether or not to send outan alert signal to inform the worker to replace the liquid tank 360. Theliquid level sensor 350 is, for example, an optical sensor or otherappropriate sensors, wherein a sensing level is preset and the presetsensing level is different depending on a practical situation. Theliquid level sensor 350 is, for example, disposed on the side wall ofthe liquid tank 360 and a transparent window (not shown) disposed on theside wall of the liquid tank 360 is used to sense the liquid level. Theliquid level sensor 350 may be directly disposed in the liquid tank 360for sensing the liquid level in the liquid tank 360. Except for theabove-mentioned techniques, other appropriate techniques can be used todispose the liquid level sensor 350.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the system 300 for managing theliquid supply exemplarily takes a set of tank-locking devices 100, butthe present invention does not specifically limit the quantity of thetank-locking device 100, and anyone skilled in the art can adjust thequantity according to the actual requirement.

The system 300 for managing the liquid supply, according to the presentinvention, uses the data-reading tool 320 to scan the barcode on thelabel of the fresh liquid tank 370 and obtain the data related to thefresh liquid tank 370. Next, the data-reading tool 320 sends the datarelated to the fresh liquid tank 370 to the host 310 in wireless mode.The host 310 maps the received data about the fresh liquid tank 370 withthe built-in liquid database to verify whether or not the data relatedto the fresh liquid tank 370 is in accordance with the data about theliquid tank 360. If the result of the mapping is correct, the host 310would send a signal to the system controller 330 to turn off theliquid-supply device 340 so as to switch the tank-locking device 100 tounlocking state and release the eye ring 362 of the liquid tank 360.Next, the liquid tank 360 is removed and replaced by a fresh liquid tank370.

In the following, a method for managing a liquid is conducted by thesystem 300 for managing the liquid supply is depicted. FIG. 4 is aflowchart illustrating the method for managing the liquid according toan embodiment of the present invention.

The liquid-managing method of the present invention is suitable for aprocess equipment wherein the tank-locking device 100 is disposed on theemployed liquid tank 360 and the tank-locking device 100 is maintainedin the locking state as the default state thereof, so that replacementof the liquid tank 360 with an incorrect liquid tank by mistake may beavoided.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, first, the liquid level in the liquid tank360 is sensed (step S400). In step S400, the liquid level in the liquidtank 360 is sensed by the liquid level sensor 350 and the signal of theliquid level is sent back to the host 310.

Next, in step S410, if the liquid level sensor 350 reveals the liquidlevel in the liquid tank 360 reaches or is lower than the preset sensinglevel, it means the liquid in the liquid tank 360 is going to bedepleted soon. At this time, the host 310 electrically connected to theliquid level sensor 350 sends a signal, which is, for example, displayedon the screen of the host 310 or an alarm sound or alarm light to informthe worker to replace the liquid tank 360.

Next, in step S420, a fresh liquid tank 370 is removed, and the datarelated to the fresh liquid tank 370 is read. In the present embodiment,a data-reading tool 320 is used to scan the barcode of the label 374 onthe fresh liquid tank 370 to acquire the data related to the freshliquid tank 370 and thereafter the data-reading tool 320 sends back thedata related to the fresh liquid tank 370 to the host 310 in, forexample, wireless mode.

Next, in step S430, the host 310 conducts mapping on the data related tothe fresh liquid tank 370 with the data related to the liquid tank 360to judge whether the data of the two liquid tanks are in accordance witheach other. The mapping is performed by using, for example, a softwareto map the data about the fresh liquid tank 370 with the liquid databaseestablished in the host 310 to double check the correctness of the freshliquid tank 370 taken by the worker.

Furthermore, in step S440, when the data related to the fresh liquidtank 370 is in accordance with the data related the liquid tank 360, thehost 310 sends a signal to the system controller 330. The signal is, forexample, a signal for turning on the tank-locking device 100. The systemcontroller 330 turns off the liquid-supply device 340 according to thesignal sent by the host 310. Once the liquid-supply device 340 stopsexerting liquid pressure, the tank-locking device 100 would be therebydriven and switched to unlocking state so as to make the locking detent150 release the eye ring 362 of the liquid tank 360.

Moreover, in step S450, after the tank-locking device 100 is turned on,the liquid tank 360 can be taken out by the worker, and then replacedwith a fresh liquid tank 370 to achieve the goal of correctly replacingthe liquid tank 360.

After step 430, when the data related to the fresh liquid tank 370 doesnot conform in accordance with the data about the liquid tank 360, thehost 310 would also send a signal to the system controller 330, whereinthe sent signal is, for example, a signal to lock the tank-lockingdevice 100. The system controller 330 makes the liquid-supply device 340to continuously exert the liquid pressure to the tank-locking device100, and the tank-locking device 100 then would maintain in the lockingstate (step S460), so that the liquid tank 360 can not be taken outwhich mandatorily forbids a worker from replacing a tank. Thereafter,the procedure returns back to step S420 again in order to remove acorrect fresh liquid tank and continue the successive steps. That is,the procedure is repeated until a correct fresh liquid tank is removedand the data thereof is read and mapped to ensure the fresh liquid tankis the correct one for replacement. The following steps and the detailthereof can be easily deduced by those skilled in the art, and they areomitted to describe herein.

In summary, when the liquid supply is not sufficient or replacement ofthe liquid tank is necessary, the system for managing the liquid supplyand method using the same would use a data-reading tool to scan thebarcode of a fresh liquid tank, the data related to the liquid tank issent to the host and a mapping and verification procedure are conductedby the host such that a wrong judgment due a worker's misjudgement maybe avoided. In addition, the tank-locking device is driven by the systemcontroller according to the result after the host conducts a mapping,which thereby avoids a worker to replace a liquid tank when the level ofthe liquid with the liquid tank has not reached the preset level. Thus,the present invention is able to prevent any replacement of the liquidtank by mistake due to human negligence, and therefore the loss liquidmay be effectively avoided.

On the other hand, the system for managing liquid supply and the methodusing the same include reading the data related to the fresh liquid tankby means of the simple system and the process steps, then conducting amapping between the data related to the fresh liquid tank and the datarelated to the liquid tank in use to verify whether they are inaccordance with each other, which allows double checking andcorrectness.

Moreover, the tank-locking device of the present invention controls themovement of the locking detent by using liquid pressure mode, not byusing electrical control mode. Therefore, any electronic component fromcoming in contact with the flammable liquid may be avoided.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A system for managing liquid supply, suitable for a process equipmentusing a liquid tank, comprising: a host, comprising a liquid database; adata-reading tool, electrically connected to the host, for reading adata related to the liquid tank; a system controller, electricallyconnected to the host; and a tank-locking device, connected to thesystem controller, disposed on the liquid tank and comprising aslideable locking detent, wherein the host receives the data related tothe liquid tank sent by the data-reading tool and conducts a mappingbetween the data related to the liquid tank and the liquid database sothat the system controller drives the tank-locking device according to asignal sent by the host, and wherein when the tank-locking device is ina locking state, the locking detent fastens the eye ring of the liquidtank, and when the tank-locking device is in an unlocking state, thelocking detent releases the eye ring of the liquid tank.
 2. The systemfor managing liquid supply according to claim 1, wherein the lockingdetent comprises a cavity portion.
 3. The system for managing liquidsupply according to claim 2, wherein when the tank-locking device is inthe locking state, the cavity portion snaps the eye ring of the liquidtank.
 4. The system for managing liquid supply according to claim 1,further comprising a liquid level sensor electrically connected to thehost for detecting a level of a liquid in the liquid tank.
 5. The systemfor managing liquid supply according to claim 1, wherein thedata-reading tool comprises a barcode scanner.
 6. The system formanaging liquid supply according to claim 1, wherein the systemcontroller comprises a liquid-supply device for pushing and moving thelocking detent.
 7. The system for managing liquid supply according toclaim 6, wherein the liquid-supply device comprises an air pressureprovider.
 8. The system for managing liquid supply according to claim 7,wherein a driving pressure of the air pressure provider ranges between 1kg/cm² and 7 kg/cm².
 9. The system for managing liquid supply accordingto claim 7, wherein a maximum output pressure of the locking detent is6.78 kg/cm².
 10. The system for managing liquid supply according toclaim 7, wherein a moving speed of the locking detent ranges between 50mm/sec and 500 mm/sec.
 11. The system for managing liquid supplyaccording to claim 1, wherein the process equipment comprises aphotoresist coating and developing machine.
 12. The system for managingliquid supply according to claim 11, wherein the liquid tank comprises aphotoresist tank.
 13. A method for managing a liquid supply, suitablefor a process equipment using a liquid tank comprising a tank-lockingdevice in a locking state, comprising: removing a fresh liquid tank andreading a data related to the fresh liquid tank when the liquid tank isrequired to be replaced; mapping the data related to the fresh liquidtank with a data related to the liquid tank to verify whether the twodata are in accordance with each other; driving the tank-locking deviceto an unlocking state when the data related to the fresh liquid tank isin accordance with the data related to the liquid tank,; and replacingthe liquid tank with the fresh liquid tank.
 14. The method according toclaim 13, wherein the step of reading the data related to the freshliquid tank comprises reading a barcode on the fresh liquid tank byusing a barcode scanner.
 15. The method according to claim 13, whereinwhen the data related to the fresh liquid tank is not in accordance withthe data related to the liquid tank the tank-locking device, thetank-locking device is in the locking state.
 16. The method according toclaim 13, wherein the process equipment comprises a photoresist coatingand developing machine.
 17. The method according to claim 16, whereinthe liquid tank comprises a photoresist tank.
 18. The method accordingto claim 17, wherein the fresh liquid tank comprises a fresh photoresisttank.
 19. A tank-locking device, suitable for a liquid tank having aneye ring, comprising: a body; a fastening portion, connected to a sideof the body for fastening the tank-locking device onto the liquid tank;a vessel body, embedded in the body, wherein a liquid inlet of thevessel body is protruded from the body; a piston, disposed in the vesselbody; a driving rod, slideably disposed in the vessel body, wherein anend of the driving rod is connected to the piston; and a locking detent,connected to another end of the driving rod and having a cavity portion;wherein when the piston is exerted by a liquid pressure from the liquidinlet of the vessel body, the piston drives the driving rod to move thelocking detent along a moving axis from a release position to a lockingposition so as to make the cavity portion snap the eye ring.
 20. Thetank-locking device according to claim 19, further comprising an elasticcomponent disposed between the piston and the inner wall of the vesselbody for exerting an elastic force on the piston against the bottom ofthe vessel body so that the driving rod moves the locking detent fromthe locking position to a release position.
 21. The tank-locking deviceaccording to claim 20, wherein the elastic component comprises a springcoil pulled on the driving rod.
 22. The tank-locking device according toclaim 19, further comprising two guiding rails respectively disposed atboth sides of the driving rod so as to make the locking detent lean onthe guiding rails and substantially assure the locking detent to slidealong the moving axis.
 23. The tank-locking device according to claim19, wherein the body comprises an accommodating groove.
 24. Thetank-locking device according to claim 23, wherein the locking detent isslideably disposed in the accommodating groove.
 25. The tank-lockingdevice according to claim 19, further comprising a liquid-supply deviceconnected to the liquid inlet.
 26. The tank-locking device according toclaim 25, wherein the liquid-supply device comprises an air pressuresupplier.